Being a mum, mother, carer, or fur mum to 1, 2 or even 3 fur babies, (as well as dads in fact!) can put you into a category of shelving yourself & putting your needs at the bottom of the priority pile. Leaving you caring for everybody else and feeling selfish for wanting a little bit of something to make you feel good!
Bailey, a now lifestyle consultant and skincare expert with the luxury brand Temple Spa, knows all too well the importance of prioritising maternal needs. After years of caring for new mums in her day job, she now works in the self-care industry helping others to recognise that being a mum doesn’t just need to be about others.
Self-care is not selfish.
Embracing self-love and choosing to brighten your day with an award-winning product (a trip to get your nails done or booking a cheeky Thursday Spray Tan) can truly bring out the joy in every day for lots of us which radiates to those around us. When you’re feeling fab, so will your kiddos.
How Do I Find the Time?
Being a mum doesn’t mean you need to shelf the skincare, self-care or tanning! If anything, we need to embrace the little things, like a great eye cream or weekly tan application which can help you feel fab, when in fact I actually feel drab, you can squeeze it into whatever free time you have!
Motherhood & booking a spray tan or spending 20 minutes with a skincare mask on doesn’t sound like the heady mix we imagine for the mums amongst us at all but let me stop you there and shine a light on why you don’t have to be dreary whilst at your parenting peak.
You can instead choose to be fab with a little self-care and a glow to make you the envy of any play gym play date. In this series as Bailey @TempleSpa Partners with WAT, we’ll uncover why great skincare and a cracking tan aren’t reserved for the elite mum; but for anyone who wants a little feel-good glow (without the guilt!!).
If my years of experience in skincare have shown me anything, it’s that slapping on a great moisturiser and a lick of mascara doesn’t create the uplift every woman in motherhood post-baby is looking for. It’s the act of caring for yourself and prioritising your needs to feel a little more human (& a lot less Casper the friendly ghost rolled in leftover cheerios) that a lot of us are looking for.
Skincare is just that, care! It’s looking after your needs & carving out time to eyeball your daily self in the mirror and think ‘hey I survived the day’ & I looked and felt bloody glorious whilst doing it! And let’s face it, ladies, you can’t feel any more glam than with great glowing skin and a tan!
Isn’t This Just For ‘Yummy Mummies’?
Firstly, we are all yummy mummies. Secondly, no! Daily routines of Cleansing, Toning, lathering wrinkle-reducing retinol and brightening Vit C serums onto our skin & bathing in moisturisers that leave us glowing, all whilst holding a baby on the hip or heading out on the school run are no longer only for the WAG in her pre-pregnancy jeans, but for the ‘everyday mum’ who still has yesterday mum bun in situ.
And for more and more mums the taboo of looking great (because I want to, not because the media tells me I should) is being broken down. The selfish emotion of wanting to do something for me is no longer considered selfish, but essential for your own survival or your basic needs.
Let’s face it girls, bodily changes happen. Our skin sallows, wrinkles deepen with wisdom (& sleep impacted nights) and our bikini bodies might be a little less prepped and certainly softer, but if you’re carving out some self-care that makes you feel good by applying great quality products as well as booking in with a WAT professional to bring you the goddess glow you deserve then in my humble mum of 2, skincare expert, glow getter opinion…. you’re doing a great job!
But if you’re reading this and thinking ‘hang on, what does being a mum, skincare and a lady with a spray gun have to do with me’? then let me stop you there before you talk yourself out of your needs to feel fabulous!
Motherhood Isn’t Smooth Sailing…
Becoming a mother physically changes you, your brain literally adapts to cope with the new responsibility (its why you put your purse in the microwave last week & have no idea why!).
That’s before we even start on the impact it has on your body and your skin! However, your old habits and desires don’t simply fade away, they just drop down the priority ladder. Your routines are still very much logged in your brain as an itch that needs to be scratched (even if it’s only once in a blue moon). And when you do scratch the itch or do something from your ‘old’ life you feel flipping fantastic! That fantastic feeling is carried with you into the realm in which you now find yourself- motherhood!
I remember the first time I went to have my hair done after I had my kids, the simple peace and quiet of sitting in a salon chair with nothing else to think about but my needs were equivalent to a good two-week holiday, I came home not only looking fantastic, might I add, but ready to face whatever the parental gauntlet had to throw at me! Can you imagine if I’d had time for a facial and a spray tan as well!! Nothing would have stopped me.
So, grabbing your gradual tanner and a mitt once the kids are in bed (& we’re not just talking for a special occasion ladies!), to wake up with that feel-good glow; literally helps you have a better day or even a week if you applied it well…. tips on this later! Because it raises your happy hormones!
Why is Self-Care Important in Motherhood?
You’re probably thinking that you don’t deserve it! Right? Maybe you don’t have time for it, or that it’s reserved for the PT booking, acrylic nail wearing, pristine eyebrow ladies of the generation coming after you, who don’t have the responsibility you now have, but in actuality- You can be a mum, have great skin and book a spray tan!
You can WANT it all and TREAT yourself to having it all too!
So come with us as we learn how this everyday mum built a business around self-care and learn her skincare tips for great glow getter tans that last and make you feel great about yourself (regardless of how the kids or motherhood may have left you feeling!)
So that you can carry that self-care through into your journey of motherhood, whilst looking like a bronzed goddess and investing in your skin’s future!
Stay tuned for Bailey’s top tips on how Self Care, Skin Care & a really great tan are just as much for you as anyone else!
Whilst you wait for Bailey’s tips for self-care, you CAN get booking your next spray tan!